S is for Sacred Names

Names have power. It is said that Daemonologists pay great costs of earthly and spiritual forms to learn the true name of the foul spirits they summon. To learn the true name of a summoned, often a foul bargain may be struck with another spirit. These rituals are not known to the author and only speculation.

The cults of the Empire, save the Verenans, believe that names carry power over the named. Many miracles, hermetic magics, and the rituals of the same must use the name of the receiver for effectiveness, demonstrating the power in a name.

Save the Venenans, as mentioned lest forgotten, cults bestow upon their priesthood sacred names. These names may not be secret, but may often be used in ceremony or in correspondence. To the acquaintances of the priests, the use of the name may create confusion. As many cults will bestow a new sacred name with each higher appointment—the first given as an Initiate to a cult—the same acquaintances, accustomed to one sacred name, must learn another. The enigmatic cult of Ranald is said to bestow two names to its “priests," a sacred name—more a nickname used in roguish dens and streets—and a secret name used by the “priests" in prayer to Ranald. The latter may be quite ribald, thus never spoken in polite or impolite company and known only to the “priests" bestowing the name.

Editor's Note

As we come to the end of letters next week, I may resort to the random true name generator for demons. It's always full of Xs and Zs. Cheat? Sure. At least I didn't pay anything of value for it.